What Might Have Been
by AllTheNamesAreTakenAlready
Summary: It's happened at least once before. Somebody went back in time and changed history. Well, it's happened again. Hermione's life would have played out very differently if not for the intervention of Draco Malfoy.
1. Chapter 1

The world had changed. Draco looked into Hermione's eyes and couldn't tear his gaze away. She was beautiful. She was looking back at him with the same kind of stunned awe that he felt. It was surreal. A moment ago, she had come to give him a piece of her mind. She had shouted at him and he had shouted back. Then somehow, without realising what he was doing, he had found himself kissing her.

A torrent of violently conflicting thoughts and emotions ran through his mind. She was not a pure blood. She was muggle born. She was smart, funny… his parents would kill him if he brought her home. He found that he didn't care.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, she flushed and dropped her gaze.

"What are we doing, Malfoy?" she asked quietly.

"I have no idea," he laughed, "But I'm all for it,"

"But you're… I mean we're… we don't even like each other,"

Again, that odd mix of emotion. It was difficult to untangle. Did he truly like Hermione Granger or had that kiss been some sort of adrenaline reaction to their shouting match? He touched his mouth, where the ghost of their kiss still lingered. Finding out exactly how he felt was not going to be an unpleasant task.

"See you tomorrow?" he asked impulsively.

She hesitated and then smiled slightly, "Same time and place?"

"I'll be here,"

She flushed more brightly and then ducked away, fleeing back to her common room. Draco found himself grinning broadly. The world seemed more vibrantly coloured than usual. He began to walk back to his own room.

He never made it there. Someone grabbed him from behind, placing a hand over his mouth. He struggled but it was too late.

"_Stupefy," _

The world went black.

He coughed, coming painfully back to consciousness.

"Good," said a chillingly familiar voice, "You're awake. I thought I'd killed you, which might have been a problem,"

Draco sat up, dread pulsing through him. He looked up and saw… holy crap, that was _himself_. An older, more battered version, with haunted eyes but the face was unmistakable. He saw it every day in the mirror.

"How…?"

Older Draco smiled bitterly and pulled a gold necklace from beneath his clothing, "Time turner," he said.

"This is dangerous. Come on, I'm smarter than this! You can't go and meet yourself in the past. What if I killed you or one of us went insane?"

"I'm already insane," the Older Draco said gruffly, "It was necessary. You need to understand something, or you're going to turn into me,"

Present Draco frowned, "That would be unpleasant,"

"Exactly. Come on. You need to see it for yourself,"

Older Draco held out a hand. Present Draco hesitated.

"I'm not sure I particularly want to time travel,"

Older Draco rolled his eyes and grabbed his younger counterpart roughly by the shoulder.

"You just kissed Hermione Granger?" he asked.

"Yes. I am your past, I guess, so you already know that,"

"You're wondering exactly how you feel about her?" Older Draco continued.

"Yes,"

Older Draco stared deep into Present Draco's eyes, "You love her," he said gently, "You have for a little while but you don't know it yet. Now, are you going to come with me to have a look at what not to do in life and love?"

Draco bit his lip and thought about Hermione. He had always been unpleasant to her… but what if his future self was right? There was definitely… something when he was around her. A spark. He took a deep breath and grasped his future's forearm.

"Let's go. I don't want to be caught out of bed by the stupid caretaker,"


	2. Chapter 2

Draco watched himself walking into the library, while he sat with himself in the corner. Something was seriously wrong with that picture. He glanced up at his future self.

"How does your brain handle this time travel stuff, anyway?"

"Same way yours does, considering they are one and the same,"

He rolled his eyes. Older Draco copied the expression perfectly.

"Hey," he said, "Don't pull that face at me. I invented that face,"

Present Draco – damn it, this was no longer _his _time slot. He'd have to stop calling himself that – groaned. Who knew he was such a pain in the ass?

The Draco from this particular time period snuck away behind a shelf of books. He wasn't much older than… than… what exactly could he call himself? Good-Looking Draco. Yes, that would do. He wasn't much older than Good-Looking Draco, so this couldn't be too far ahead in the future.

Older Draco nudged Good-Looking Draco as the door opened again and Hermione entered. She cast a quick glance around and then made her way behind the same shelf as the Draco had done. Good-Looking Draco struggled to get his head around keeping track of all of the various versions of himself. It wasn't getting any easier.

"No, it stays confusing," Older Draco said, correctly interpreting his counterpart's expression.

Well, it wasn't so surprising. It was his expression, in a way. Gah, what a mess.

"Here," Older Draco said quietly, "We can watch them on this,"

He pulled a square of reflective glass out of his pocket. Good-Looking Draco had never seen anything like it before. It was about the size of a loaf of bread and when Older Draco pointed his wand in the direction of the pair behind the book shelves, an image of them suddenly appeared in full colour and focus. Good-Looking Draco whistled appreciatively and Older Draco smiled affectionately, his eyes far away.

"Hermione invents it a year out of school,"

"Neat,"

"Very. Now shut up; there's volume, if you stop talking. I know how much you love the sound of your own voice,"

Good-Looking Draco fell sullenly silent and watched the Draco and Hermione in the glass.

Draco pulled her into a hug and she kissed him. When they separated, she laughed a little bit nervously.

"Have you told anyone yet?" she asked.

Draco shook his head, "Have you?"

"No. They'd disown me," she bit her lip, "Do you think this is worth it?"

"This," Older Draco whispered, "Is when you realise that you care,"

Mirror Draco looked at her for a long moment. Then he kissed her again.

"Yes," he said finally, "I think it's worth it,"

"In that case, we have to let people know. I don't want to be in a relationship I'm ashamed of. Everything has to be out in the open,"

Mirror Draco grimaced and then took her hand bravely, "Okay. What do you say we parade around the school for a while? People will get the message,"

She smiled, "What if our friends are done with us over this?"

"You're better company than Crabb and Goyle anyway,"

Older Draco lowered his wand and the image faded. Mirror Draco and Hermione emerged from their hiding place hand in hand and made their way out into the hallway. Good-Looking Draco glanced up at Older Draco.

"So what? We date. What's the big problem?"

"You do more than date," Older Draco said, "That's the big problem. Come on. There's more you have to see,"


	3. Chapter 3

Time Turners were not fun. The wrenching sensation that came when you made the shift was in no way soothed by the irritating number of people running around that you could not interact with. And Draco was getting sick of trying to get all of the versions of himself sorted in his head. His brain was sore.

He and Older Draco were standing in a shadowed hallway, just outside of the Slytherin common room. Older Draco pulled out a large piece of cloth from beneath his robes. Good-Looking Draco choked.

"Is that Potter's invisibility cloak?"

"Yes,"

"Where did you get it?"

Older Draco shrugged, "Harry Potter dies trying to kill He Who Must Not Be Named. Ron Weasley dies with him and seeing as Potter didn't have any family, Hermione ended up with it,"

Good-Looking Draco gaped, "Wait, _what_? Potter dies? But he's the Boy Who Lived! He's like a bloody cockroach,"

"Yeah, well someone squashed him. No one's invincible,"

Older Draco threw the cloak over himself and then held it out for his younger self to climb under as well. Good-Looking Draco frowned.

"I am not squishing under that blanket with you,"

"We can't let us see ourselves,"

The younger version of Draco had to stop and untangle that sentence for a moment. Older Draco took full advantage of that time and threw the cloak over him. Good-Looking Draco swore. The cloak wasn't quite big enough to cover them both properly unless they pressed against one another and squatted while standing hunchback. It was highly unpleasant.

"Why can't Draco from this time slot see us?" Good-Looking Draco asked as they began to move, "You revealed yourself to me,"

"Do you really want to have to deal with another Draco Malfoy? Let's face it kid, we're a pain in the ass. I can barely stand you and you're me,"

"Ugh,"

"I said it," said Older Malfoy with a grin, "By which, I mean you said it,"

"Shut the hell up, Malfoy,"

"Yes sir, Mister Malfoy,"

Both fell silent as they entered a busier hallway. It would have been quite awkward for the students to begin hearing disembodied voices. The Dracos wound their way carefully through the throngs of people and finally emerged out onto the grounds.

Present Draco and Hermione were sitting together under a tree, enjoying their free time. She was knitting little misshapen woollen hats. Surprisingly, he was helping her, laughing.

"You've been going out for a year," Older Draco said solemnly, "She changes you for the better. Before we started dating, I was a self-centred little punk,"

"Watch it,"

"Hey, I'm just being honest with myself,"

Good-Looking Draco huffed, "So what? I love her, she makes me a good person. I fail to see what the problem here is. Why are you bothering me?"

"I haven't shown you the problem yet,"

"Why are you wasting time then? Just cut to the chase!"

Older Draco looked at him gravely, which was a difficult and impractical thing to do beneath the cloak.

"I need you to fully comprehend why what happens is a problem. You won't unless I show you all of this first. I need you to love her now,"

Good-Looking Draco rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Did our friends disown us?"

"Hers don't, although they didn't approve. Ron gets jealous. He'll try and beat you up later but she ends up breaking his nose. It's pretty funny, actually,"

"And how about my friends?"

"Oh, they hate you; but they always did. You've always been more of a ringleader than an actual friend. Anyway, you make new friends. Watch,"

Just as Older Draco finished talking, Ginny Weasley joined the pair on the lawn. She glanced uncertainly at Draco and made some kind of scathing comment. Draco, to his credit, laughed good-naturedly. Bemused, Ginny sat down.

"Believe it or not," Older Draco said, fond amusement colouring his voice, "You actually end up being reasonably close to Harry and Ron, as soon as you and Ron finish fighting over Hermione,"

Good-Looking Draco scoffed.

"No, really," Older Draco said, "You feel terrible when they die,"

Good-Looking Draco watched himself laughing with Hermione. Did he love her? An odd warmth spread through him. He looked so happy there. How could any of this be a problem, when his future seemed so bright? He had to know how this could possibly be wrong. Determined now, he turned to his older self.

"Okay," he said, "Show me what comes next,"


	4. Chapter 4

The next place they visited was familiar. In fact, it was Draco's house, seen from a vantage point on a hill a few streets away. Good-Looking Draco glanced up at Older Draco.

"Why are we all the way over here?" he made to move closer but Older Draco caught his arm with a sudden hiss.

"No! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to be here right now? We could get ourselves killed, past, present and future,"

Good-Looking Draco raised his eyebrows, "How am I supposed to know what's going to happen? You're the one that's done it before. This is all new for me,"

Older Draco pulled out his little mirror again and waved his wand towards the Malfoy house. The scene reflected in the glass drew a gasp from younger Draco.

"Is that…?"

"Lord Voldemort. Yes. You are about to do something highly inadvisable,"

Good-Looking Draco felt very cold, "What the hell is wrong with me?"

"You're in love. In the future, they have pills for that,"

Mirror Draco was sitting at a table, looking very pale between his two parents. They were not the only ones in the room though. The house seemed to be a meeting place for a large group of Death Eaters, all of them seated around the long table, with Lord Voldemort himself at the head. A large snake was coiled around his shoulders and he stroked it absently.

"Draco," he said suddenly, in a voice like scales sliding through dead leaves.

Mirror Draco sat up ramrod straight, "Yes, my Lord?"

Good-Looking Draco frowned at that. Had he joined the Death Eaters? Maybe it wasn't so surprising but after seeing himself with Hermione… he could do better. Disgust settled in the pit of his stomach and a fowl taste rose in his mouth. Older Draco was solemn.

"You didn't have much of a choice," he said quietly, "The Death Eaters don't take rejection particularly well,"

Voldemort spoke again and Older Draco fell silent.

"… I hear that you have been consorting with a _mudblood_," the word was a hiss, the inflection and the voice that spoke it making the insult a threat.

"It's nothing, my Lord," Mirror Draco mumbled, eyes down.

"Prove it to me," Voldemort said, "I want you to kill her, Draco,"

Mirror Draco nodded without hesitation.

"No!" Good-Looking Draco turned frantically to his older self, "We don't kill her, do we?"

Older Draco shook his head, "Not now,"

"Not now? What the hell does that mean?"

"It means shut up and watch what happens next so you don't do it again this time round,"

Good-Looking Draco clenched his jaw and glanced at the mirror again. He shook his head.

"No," he said, "I've seen what I need to see. You screw up. We're done here,"

Older Draco watched his younger self, "You're growing attached to her," he observed.

"That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"I thought it was… but maybe I made a mistake. You're getting hot-headed,"

"Yeah? Well too late. Time for the next time-skip. I'm _going _to find out what you meant that I don't kill her now. You see, it implies that I'm going to kill her later,"

Older Draco sighed and then slipped the mirror away, pulling the Time Turner from his robes instead.

"You aren't thinking clearly," he warned, "You're going to make even worse mistakes than you did the first time around,"

Good-Looking Draco glared, "Shut up and flip the hourglass,"


End file.
